In tyre manufacturing, cements are normally organic-solvent-based. Cements of this sort are highly adhesive and easy to use, mainly on account of rubber dissolving readily in organic solvents and so blending with other rubber to form practically one piece once the organic solvent evaporates.
This type of cement has the major drawback of containing a large amount of organic solvent, which, as is known, is highly volatile, and constitutes a hazard both to the environment and, above all, to the health of workers coming into contact with it. Moreover, on evaporating, solvents form potentially explosive mixtures with air.
For all these reasons, recent European directives have imposed a drastic reduction in the use of organic solvents in tyre manufacturing, thus forcing manufacturers to devise alternative solutions to ensure correct adhesion of rubber layers.
A need is therefore felt within the tyre industry for non-organic-solvent cements capable of ensuring adequate adhesion of the various rubber tyre component parts.